


The Care

by brangelina_of_the_gallaghers



Series: Mr G [4]
Category: Shameless (US)
Genre: Bipolar Disorder, Cheer up, M/M, Mickey hates Fiona, Resolution, depresssion
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-04
Updated: 2015-07-09
Packaged: 2018-04-07 15:30:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,385
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4268574
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brangelina_of_the_gallaghers/pseuds/brangelina_of_the_gallaghers
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mickey learns to deal with Ian's depression and how to get him out of one of his low lows. </p><p>(Not a stand alone story.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this on the bus so it's probably not great. It's set a 2 or 3 weeks after 'The Job'.

"Morning." Mickey croaked, rolling over and attaching himself to his boyfriend's back. Ian didn't move. "Hey." Mickey once again tried to get his boyfriend's attention. "Ian?"

He leaned over his naked torso. "What's up? You sick?"

"Gimme me some space."

"Why? What's wrong?"

"Mick, just leave me alone."

"Fuck no. Ya gotta get up and take your meds. And school starts in like an hour and a half."

"Go away." Ian growled.

"Shit." Mickey whispered. "I can't deal with this, man." He said without a trace of hatred in his voice, simply filled with fear. "I'm not strong enough."

"I'm not your responsibility." He heard come faintly from Ian's lips.

"You are if I make you my responsibility. I want to look after you. Like you did for me."

"I don't need you." He almost growled.

"Yes, you do."

"Go away!"

"I can't do that. I love you too much ." He said, holding back tears.

"I'm not getting up."

"Then I'll bring you your meds and some water. How much of what should I bring you?"

"I don't care."

"Fat lot of use you are." He tried to lighten the mood but it didn't work. He placed a kiss on his boyfriend's shoulder before rolling out of bed and grabbing the redhead's phone.

He left the bedroom and went to the kitchen to make the call. Cold kitchen tiles shocked his feet and, if the previous few minutes of the already torturous day hadn't already, it would have made him wide awake.

 _"Hello."_ He heard from the other end of the phone.

"Um, hi, Fiona?" He sounded unsure.

_"Mickey?"_

"Yeah."

_"What's wrong?"_

"I need a favour. Hate me all you want but Ian-"

She cut him off. _"Ian what?"_

"Do you know his dosage?"

_"Of course. Is something wrong?"_

"Um, yeah. He won't get up. I was going to take him his pills and a drink. Could you call the school and tell them he's ill so can't teach today?"

_"Of course. I'm on my way over, too. I'll be as fast as I can."_

"Thanks but I'll let you handle the six thousand kids you have there before you come help me. I got this for as long as you need."

_"You don't know what you're dealing with."_

"There's only one way to find out, right?" He said, voice dosed with uncertainty.

 _"Alright."_ She said, sounding even more uncertain. _"I'll be over as soon as I can."_ She recited his dosage and Mickey wrote it down. _"Don't let him do anything stupid."_

"You mean don't let my boyfriend kill himself? Yeah, I don't plan to." Mickey sniped, remembering he didn't like the woman.

_"Be gentle with him, okay? I've dealt with him like this before. He needs to know you care and don't resent him."_

"Of course I don't fucking resent him. I love him. He knows that."

_"Right now, he doesn't. He always thinks we hate him when he's like this because we hated Mocnica. I guess he's told you."_

"Roughly."

_"I'll see you soon and fill you in. I'm trusting you with my baby brother right now. You've got to know how important that is to me. An I trust you is more important than an I love you."_

"I got it." He hung up and headed for the cabinet where the pill bottle were stored. After collecting what he needed and pouring a glass of cold water, he ventured back through to the bedroom.

* * *

"Hey, Sleeping Beauty." He sat on the edge of the bed nearest the depressed man. "You gunna take these or am I going to have to use force?"

"I don't need 'em."

"Ian, I know you're strong and determined and I love you for it, I but you need these to keep you that way. What have you got to loose?"

"What's the point?"

"Staying healthy? Being happy? Keeping a routine? Sex with your boyfriend?" Ian didn't respond. "Come on. For me."

 _'For me'_ was what got Ian to sit up and take the pills from Mickey's hand. The realisation that he'd do anything for his boyfriend washing over him.

"Right, what else can I do for you?"

"Give me some space." The redhead said with a little less hatred in his voice.

"Okay, I'll be through there." He gestured towards the living room.

"Don't you have work?"

"I'll take some time off. I want to be near you, if that's okay?"

"I'm not going to kill myself if that what you're worried about. I'm depressed but I'm not suicidal."

"That's not it. I want to be here for whatever it is you need. I want to show Fiona I can look after you well enough. I want you to remember I love you - like all the time."

There was no response from the bedridden man so Mickey chose to just leave the room after placing a quick kiss on his temple.

* * *

Fiona arrived about an hour after their phone call. Unlocking the door (with the key Ian had given her for emergencies), she entered and saw Mickey sulking on the couch. "How's he doing?" She said when the boy sat up straight.

"He took the pills but wanted space so I came through. I was about to go and check on him. You go if you want." He nodded towards the bedroom door.

"Yeah." Was all she said before heading in to see her brother.

"Ian." She said softly, cautiously, as she walked through the door.

"Go away." He growled.

"No. I need you to get up. Come on." She said as she sat on the edge of the bed "What happened?"

"Nothing."

"Something must've."

"Fuck off."

"I came to cheer you up and I'm not leaving until you smile."

"You came because you don't trust Mickey."

"That's not true. I came to look after my little brother." "I don't need you. I'm also 24, I'm not your little brother anymore. I have the right to tell you to fuck off."

"You'll always be my little brother." She straightened out the sheets at Mickey's side of the bed before laying in top of them. After a couple of minutes of silence she piped up. "Remember when you were younger and you stayed in bed for ages?" She didn't get a response. "I sat with you every morning trying to get you to talk to me. You never did but I never gave up. Remember what snapped you out of it?" Ian still didn't talk so she continued. "I got Lloyd to come 'round and he gave you some meds. I managed to get you to take 'em every so often and you began cheering up." She paused to let what she said sink into her brother. "But what really snapped you out of it was when Liam came to see you for the first time. We'd been keeping him from you to protect him but he came in without us knowing because he was worried about you. He started crying and for the first time in a long time you hugged someone. You wanted to protect him. You wanted him to cheer him up. You wanted him to stop worrying about you." She sat up and leaned over Ian's body, making eye contact. "Right now you've got someone else you're scaring."

"You've seen the shit before. You shouldn't be fucking scared." He managed to verbalise.

"I meant Mickey. You're boyfriend needs you to be okay. If anyone can snap you out of it this time, it's him."

"Snap me out of it."he parroted. "You make it sound like I'm just having a bad dream or something."

"That's not what I meant. To him it probably does feel like a bad dream though. You know what it feels like to see someone you love hurting." She left Ian quietly contemplating and went back through to Mickey, who'd been eavesdropping by the door.

They made awkward eye contact before Mickey took a few steps backwards before muttering: "I wanted to know if there's something important I should say next time so I decided-"

"I don't blame you." He interrupted.

"So what triggered it last time?"

"He's has his bad days but he's not been very depressed since before he was diagnosed. This should wash over soon enough. It's generally if he hasn't taken his meds, other than that, we don't really know what it is."

"So I didn't do anything wrong?"

"No." She sighed, realising finally how much the boy loved her brother.

"Has he been taking his meds all the time?"

"I don't think he did last night but other than that-"

"Why didn't he take them last night?"

"We'd been in bed since 7ish."

"Why?" She asked, bemused. Mickey just gave her a look; that look that means 'just think about it'. "Oh." She finally said.

"Yeah. And we just crashed straight after. He didn't really feel like getting up near midnight."

"You can hold out for five hours?" She said, slightly impressed, forgetting there was something more important going on.

"You wanna talk about your brother's sex life?"

"Good point."

"So he starts taking 'em again and he'll get better?"

"Hopefully."

"What do I do until then? Hide the knives and keep an eye on him?"

"Something like that. Don't think he'll go that far though. He doesn't want to be like the hurricane that we call Monica."

"I know. He isn't your mother."

"He needs reminding of that at times like these."

"So what shit did Monica do?"

"Slit her wrists on thanksgiving, almost jumped of the roof because she thought she could fly, ran off with Liam, kept coming home, leaving a baby and then leaving, tried to sell Liam, took Ian to a gay club when he was 13 and 15, tried to persuade him he didn't need his meds. I could list more."

"But he's never done any of that shit. Why would he think he's like her?"

"He ran off to join the army and then became a stripper."

"But turned his life around. What's she doing now?"

"God knows. We haven't seen her in about 6 years."

"So he's not Monica. He doesn't need to be treated like it. I'm going to talk to him like and adult." He took quick strides into the bedroom and sat down on the edge of the bed. "Could you give us a minute?" He said to Fiona, who was standing by the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I posted this on my last fic but I'm going to do it again. Could you PLEASE fill in[this survey?](https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/LHQWJB6) It will only take like 3 minutes and it will really help with a big project I have to do.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More stuff I wrote on the bus. Short-ish chapter but I figured I'd just upload what I have and keep working after.

She huffed and walked off.

"Okay. We're going to do this the right way. I don't want to treat you like a child and be extra careful around you. I want you to be okay so I'm gunna talk to you like you're okay." He paused and ran his fingers through his own hair. "Right, so. I might not have dealt with this before but there's a first time for everything. I wish this could be the last too but I doubt it. You just need to tell me if there's anything I can do and I'll do it. Whether it's leaving you alone or just laying here all day doing nothing just to be nearby. I want to protect you like you protect me so... just tell me, okay? Anything." He looked down to see tears in his boyfriend's eyes. "I've told you a can't deal with tears, man." He knelt down on the floor next to the bed, bringing his face closer to Ian's. "Please don't cry."

"Sorry." Ian croaked.

"Don't apologise." Mickey leaned in to kiss his boyfriends cheek but Ian turned his head and captured his lips. The kiss was brief but Mickey still felt electricity running through his veins. "It's a good job I love you because you breath is fucking disgusting." He laughed. "I'll be through there trying not to hate your sister. Shout if you want anything."

He got up and walked to the kitchen, where Fiona was pouring herself some coffee. "What did he say?" She asked.

"He apologised but I told him not to. Told him I love him, kissed him and left. I think I might be okay dealing with this." The brunette smiled. "If you need to go to work or some shit-"

"No. I want to stay here." She interrupted. "You should go to work."

"No fucking way."

"I got this." She insisted.

"No fucking way." He repeated. "I want to look after him."

"He needs me more than you. He's family."

"You thought about the fact he's my family, too? I've only got two people but I'd do anything power to do everything to keep them safe."

"You really think he's family?" Her face softened.

"He's the most important person on my life. One of two people I care about. He's fucking family."

"Okay." She sighed. "Alright. Stay. You mean a lot to him, too. He might need you."

"It was never up for discussion. I'm staying. I called in sick earlier. I just want him to be okay." He was on the brink of breaking. Running his hand through his hair, he turned his back to her. "Gonna take a shower. Shout me if anything happens."

* * *

He let the tears flow in the shower.

Rubbing his eyes with the palm of his hands to hold them back, he decided to give in. A waterfall streamed down his face, tears mixing with the warm water of the shower.

He felt no relief through the release of tears so decided to scrub away the pain. He washed his hair twice, trying to remove all of the fear. He washed his face four times, trying to remove all of the anger. He washed his shoulders and neck six times, trying to remove all of the dread.

Then he washed it all again.

About half an hour after he'd retreated into the bathroom he reemerged. Fiona was watching their TV, leg absentmindedly bouncing - or it might have been shaking.

Mickey sat down at the opposite end of the couch, not greeting her. She glanced across but he refused to make eye contact. The tension could have been cut with a knife. "We're going to have to get along, Mickey." She eventually sighed.

"I'm not changing to please you."

"I want you to meet me half way."

"He told me not to change."

"I don't want you to be someone new. I just need you to be more open minded when it comes to me and my family."

"What is it I've done wrong? Tell me what it is and I'll see what I can do. I ain't given you a reason to hate me."

Fiona hesitated so Mickey spoke again. "You have nothing to say because I ain't done anything. So what the fuck's your problem?"

"I don't trust you."

"Why?"

"Ian's previous boyfriends have been nice, handsome, rich guys that claim they can deal with his big, dysfunctional family but end up leaving him because of us and breaking his heart. I don't want my little brother heartbroken again."

"I'm not going to break his heart."

"No one intends to break someone's heart."

"I know. And I know that I won't. Unless he pushes me away, there's no way I'm leaving him. We're perfect."

"No relationship is perfect."

"How long have you been dating your latest boyfriend?"

"Four months."

"How many arguments have you had?"

"I don't see how that's-"

"Answer the question." He deadpanned.

"I don't know, 10 to 15 maybe."

"In our 3 months of dating, Ian and I have fought once and even then we made up a few hours later and everything was perfect again. We know everything about each other. There's nothing he could do that would make me not want him. Not that it's any of your fucking business."

"What if you're not enough for him?"

"Thanks for your confidence." He scowled.

"My brother's the marriage and kids kind of guy but he's too nice to leave you if you don't want that, too. You need to leave him if you're not up for that."

"Fuck off." Mickey huffed and stood up. "I'm going to check on him."

"I'm being serious, Mickey."

Not replying, he walked into the bedroom and to the other side of the bed. He sat down next to his boyfriend's curled up body. "Do you mind if I kill your sister?" He smiled.

"A little bit, yeah." The redhead managed to laugh. "What did she do?"

"Doesn't matter." He leaned in to kiss his boyfriend's temple. "How are you?"

"Don't wanna talk about it."

"Want a hug?" Mickey asked. Ian nodded so Mickey climbed into his own side of the bed and moved over to spoon his boyfriend. They just lay in silence for a while until Mickey felt Ian's breathing deepen and reluctantly left the sleeping boy.

"I want you to leave." He said quietly as soon as he saw the woman he hated.

"Mickey. Don't be ridiculous. You can't make me leave." She responded equally quietly.

"I can. You're in my home and I don't want you here."

"This is Ian's place, not yours." Emphasis on the 'not'.

"You know for a fact this is my place, too. I'm done with your shit. Why do you bring out the bit of me that makes me hate myself? What's your fucking aim?"

"I'm here to look after my brother. And I'm staying until he's okay."

"No. You're not. If you're gunna stay here and criticise me, tell me I'm not good enough for him, I don't want you here while I'm dealing with this shit. It's not helpful."

"He's my brother. I need to be here."

"And he's my boyfriend and I don't need you here. I don't want you here. I don't give a shit if you don't like me or don't trust me or what the fuck ever but I'm not as shit as you're making me out to be. I'm in love with him and I wouldn't do anything, anything" he emphasised "that would hurt him. He'll be fine and I'll be here, not you. Just get the fuck out."

"You don't know what you're dealing with, Mickey."

"I do. I can and will deal with this and I'll do it right. He doesn't need both of us."

"Mickey-"

"Leave." He interrupted, hatred practically dripping off the word.

"Fuck you." She ran her hand through her hair before sighing out "fine." And stomping through the door Mickey had so helpfully opened for her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading. It shouldn't take long for me to finish the next chapter.  
> And thank you so much for the people that answered [my survey](https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/LHQWJB6). If you haven't done it yet, please consider doing it. It'll be very useful. Thanks again. <3


	3. The 'Ever'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry. [I'm so so sorry.](http://s3-ak.buzzfeed.com/static/2014-05/tmp/webdr05/12/19/anigif_eaa6a580d8aece464ad6ec5fd8670b68-0.gif)
> 
> I'm not remotely proud of this and I figured now it's more about content than quality. I had written more but it was on my ipod and upon trasfering it to ao3 something went wrong and I lost a chunk of text. I tried to rectify it but it's not as good. Once again, I'm sorry.

As soon as Fiona left, Mickey fell to the floor, back up against the door. He cried and cried until he couldn't cry anymore. The urge to fall into an abyss was growing stronger.

At the sound of his growling stomach, he walked through to the kitchen to make some food. Once he'd assembled a couple of sandwiches he opened the fridge and his hand lingered on a beer can. It took a few moments of inner debate for Mickey to release the cold can and shut the door.  _Alcohol wasn't the answer._

Ian was awake and facing the ceiling when Mickey entered the bedroom. There was a spark inside the boy when he said that his boyfriend had moved and it didn't diminish until the redhead grunted a "no" at the plate being held towards him. 

"Okay. I'm not going to make you. I'll leave it here though." He place it down on Ian's nightstand. 

"You're not going, are you?"

"No further than the next room."

"I don't blame you if you want to leave."

"Why would you think I want to?" Mickey's legs gave in and he flopped down onto the bed.

"I heard the door and thought you were leaving me."

"It was just Fiona. Don't worry. I'm here to stay." They both knew that he didn't just mean whilst Ian was bedridden. Mickey was Ian's for good.

"Why did she go?"

"She had to go to work. I told her we'd be alright. We'll be alright, right?"

"Yeah." He let out a breath.

"All I want is for you to get better, okay? So, please, cheer up, for me. I know it's not that simple. I know you don't think you're worth it or what the fuck ever but you're wrong. You're amazing. You got this."

"I don't deserve you." Ian was getting more downbeat.

"Man, you've dealt with more of my stupid shit than I have yours. I don't deserve you." He leaned in to kiss his boyfriend's cheek. "I love you."

"I love you, too." He managed to say.

"You better." Mickey huffed before running his hand through the ginger strands. "I'm gunna watch some crappy TV. Shout me if you need me." With that he stood up and left.

* * *

"Mick." Ian croaked.

Mickey was unsure if he'd imagined it or not so went through to the bedroom anyway. "Yeah."

The redhead fell into a violent coughing fit. "Water?"

"Yeah." He repeated, going as fast as he could through to the kitchen to fill a glass. Relief spread through his body as he realised that this was improvement. "Here." He handed it over, brushing his boyfriends fingers. "Anything else?"

Ian took a sip and shook his head before putting the glass by his bed. "Thanks."

"It's fine." He hesitated by the door, looking at his boyfriend's back. "I'm here. I know you know that. Just... you know. You've got a support team if that's what you want to call it. And I'm going to go through there because this moment is too gay. Love you," he left before Ian could reply. He may not like the woman but he thought back to what Fiona had said. Ian didn't know he was loved and if that meant saying it a thousand times a day, he would.

* * *

The redhead remained in bed for the rest of the day, slowly cheering up. It was about nine when Mickey decided to get his evening meds and take them through to the bedroom. "Hey. You gunna take these?" He walked around to Ian's side of the bed.

The man didn't answer. He just stuck his hand out, waiting for Mickey to pass him the pills.

"Thanks." Mickey muttered. "Am I good to join you in there now?"

"Yeah."

He walked back around to his side of the bed and pulled off his shirt and jeans. Once in bed, he shuffled close to his boyfriend but kept a little distance between them. "I love you."

"You, too."

Mickey placed a hand on his boyfriend's hip from behind, unsure of their boundaries and playing it safe with minimal contact. "Goodnight."

* * *

 

"Morning." Mickey croaked, having moved closer towards his boyfriend during the night. "How you doing today?"

Ian remained silent but awake.

"You need to miss work again?"

The redhead managed to nod.

"I'll text Fiona. Anything I can get you?"

"Tell her not to come over. I don't want babying."

"I don't think she'd want to come anyway." He said, almost inaudible.

"Why?"

"We fought yesterday. I told her to leave."

"What did you fight about?" Ian seemed a little cheerier than the previous day but his whole body was laced with dread. It was obvious they were fighting about him.

"She just gets on my nerves. Makes me hate myself."

"Don't hate yourself. You're brilliant." He felt even more guilt.

"Thanks." Mickey placed kiss on his boyfriend's temple, still not making eye contact. "I'll send her a message and get your meds."

So, that's what he did. He sent a harsh 'he's not going to school again' to Fiona before refilling the glass of water he'd taken from the bedroom, grabbing the pills and going back towards his boyfriend.

"Breakfast of champions." He laughed, placing the items on the nightstand. "Sooner you take 'em sooner you'll get better, right? I need you better soon. I went a whole day without your dick in me."

Ian almost managed a smile.

"But I need you better for other things, too." He sat on the edge of the bed. "Like eating at the table with me and watching TV while curled on the couch and showering is more fun with you. And what's irritating is I know you're strong enough to fight this but I feel like I'm expecting it to happen faster than it can and I'm sorry."

Ian reached a hand up to his boyfriend's face. "Thanks. Just... thanks."

Mickey chuckled. "I didn't do anything." Their lips joined as he leaned down for a kiss. "This comes down to you. I can just help from the sidelines." He let out a short sigh and moved over to his side of the bed, sliding under the sheets and facing his boyfriend's back. "Roll over."

Ian reluctantly rolled over.

"First thing first, as soon as I get out of this bed I'm bringing you mouthwash because you smell fucking disgusting." He smiled playfully. "You remember after my dad verbally attacked me and I turned up here crying?"

He waited a few tense seconds for his redhead to nod.

"We lay in bed after and you told me that I shouldn't let him take a hammer to my shell. You said that there are barriers between us and what we want and we should try to get over them. You said I shouldn't be the barrier. I should rebuild the shell and get away from the obstacles." He shuffled a little closer. "You need to listen to your own words. Your barriers are in here." He reached across to tap his fingers against Ian's temples. "Your shell has broken but overcome these barriers up there and it'll start to heal. All I can do is stand and watch. You're the one that needs to jump the hurdle. And I know you can. You know you can." Fingers ran through the red stands of hair as Ian started to cry. "No. No. No. Don't cry." He shuffled closer. "Why do you need to cry?" He got no response. "You don't."

He held his boyfriend against his chest until the tears stopped falling. "Is there anything I can done to cheer you up?"

"Don't leave."

"I don't plan to." Ian felt a kiss be placed on the top of his head. "Ever." The younger man added.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for sticking around. And, yeah, sorry.  
> Its a fairly inconclusive ending but I thought it was kinda sweet. Basically, what would have happened after; Ian slowly gets better and him and Mickey have sex to celebrate!  
> I have other stories in mind and I've written opening chapters to some of them. Hopefully they'll be better than this.  
> If you have any ideas about what you want them to get up to in this series, please comment below or message me on [tumblr](http://s3-ak.buzzfeed.com/static/2014-05/tmp/webdr05/12/19/anigif_eaa6a580d8aece464ad6ec5fd8670b68-0.gif)  
> .


End file.
